Earth's gleaming shores
by adamalove777
Summary: The fleet arrives at Earth and finds the mythical thirteenth tribe. The fleet settles and life begins anew,,
1. Chapter 1

Earth. It gleamed as a shining beacon of hope for the 12 colonies of Kobol and now they were seeing it with their very own eyes. Its azure hue, splashed together with land the color of Laura's eyes was the backdrop of their hopes. The fleet had erupted into joyous revelry and neither Laura nor Bill felt inclined to stop it. They were too exuberant themselves to notice.

Bill hugged Laura's fragile body to his own sturdy one in a gripping embrace. "We made it." He whispered softly, in a cracked voice. He pulled back, his eyes watery. Laura smiled, and closed her eyes, screwing her face, desperate to keep control of the flood of tears threatening to stream. Bill smiled softly and squeezed her hand, knowing they were happy tears. He shook his head, willing his voice to remain clear and strong as he picked up the comm.

XXX

A few hours later, they were headed to the surface of the planet. The crew hadn't stopped rejoicing and it had taken awhile to actually secure the raptors needed, as no one seemed to remember they had jobs to do, in the midst of the occasion. Bill had chided the chief, but with no real harshness- Zeus had brought his family to the Promised Land. They had selectively chosen the first people to see the surface, not knowing what they would find. They had decided to use two raptors, one with Laura, Bill, and Lee in one raptor and Kara, Anders, and Tyrol in the other. Saul had stayed with the fleet, keeping command. They had ultimately decided to bring along the Cylons that they trusted, knowing that to form a new home, they would need cooperation. The ride to the planet was mainly silent. They were wondering about this new planet, wondering if they would meet any resistance in settling upon it. If the 13th tribe was alive and settled on this planet, they were not showing any signs of strength thus far. They had not shot them out of the sky, nor did they pick up any of their communication signals that Galactica had tried to send out. As they neared the planet they saw cities, metropolises in the distance. Great towers stood in the distance, complex geometrical shapes, and their mere upright existence seemingly at odds with gravity. As they began their decent towards the ground, landing upon the soft ground, seemingly wild with tall grass, the apprehension was palpable. Bill looked around warily, looking for some sign of resistance. He looked to the other raptor, holding Kara, Anders, and Tyrol. He gave them a nod and proceeded to search the surroundings with his eyes. He decided there was nothing he could glean from within the raptor and motioned to the others that he would be getting out of his raptor. He pressed to open the hatch, wondering again what type of people the thirteenth tribe must be, to not have more security. Lee's narrowed eyes were methodically scanning the area as he moved with Bill, his hand close to his gun. Laura began to stand to come with him but Bill gently pushed her back into her seat. She glared at him, wondering what he was doing. "Bill. I have not come this far to sit inside this damn raptor." She said icily. Bill gave her a look and sighed. "Laura. You of all people should know we have to think about diplomacy. Who knows what this tribe is like? Maybe they are dangerous, and maybe they will not like our presence here. They did leave for a reason after all. So we will go out first,-" He said motioning between himself and Lee. He held up his hand as she went to protest, his eyes making it clear he would give no ground on the matter "making sure it's all clear, and once everything is established, you will see your Earth." He said with a smile as he touched her cheek. She huffed, annoyed but knowing he was right. She conceded and touched his hand. "Alright, but be careful Admiral." "Always" he said with a grin. He slowly began to make his way off the raptor, his hand lightly touching the gun he had holstered to his side. Suddenly a loud noise was heard from overhead. He looked up, and saw a large carrier craft heading towards them. It was larger in the front; almost bubble shaped, and had a long tail that extended out. The source of the loud noise seemed to be the propelling system attached to the top, spinning around in rapid circles. As it lowered, Bill felt the intense pressure of the machine bearing down on him, the wind blowing in his face. He felt something behind him and saw Laura had come to stand next to him.

He shot her a ferocious glare and yelled something at her, but the wind from the machine drowned out his voice and she shook her head, letting him know she wasn't leaving. Suddenly the machine became quiet and they found themselves waiting in apprehension. Anders, Kara, and Tyrol were climbing out of the raptor, heading towards them, searching their faces for any information.

"You think they are friendly Admiral?" Tyrol asked wearily, as he took a place next to Bill, his hand also feathering his gun. Anders, Lee, and Kara all gave him questioning stares, wondering what to do next.

"I don't know. There seems to be someone flying the machine, so we should wait and see what they will do first. We need to establish we are friendly, but they may not want us here, or may not give us time to explain so if for even one second they look hostile, don't hesitate to protect yourselves." He said gravely, letting his eyes rest upon each of theirs.

Laura was looking at the machine intently, wondering what the 13 tribe would look like… "That is if they don't kill us before letting any conversations happen" she thought nervously. A noise coming from the interior of the machine caused them all to look in the direction in which she was staring.

" We know who you are" a voice called out through a crackling machine. "You are armed, as are we. What is your purpose here?"

They gave each other stunned looks. Laura was the first to gain her bearings and called out to the voice.

"We have come looking for a new home. We wish no harm upon either party, we are merely looking for a place to settle. We have guns for protection but do not come seeking a fight" she said, wondering how much she should explain. The voice said it knew who they were…

Bill looked at her bewildered, almost as if he had forgotten she was there.

The door of the machine began to open and Bill instinctively stepped in front of Laura, shielding her. As the door opened fully, the figures of two men and a woman stepped out. They seemed to carry no weapons with them. The woman was olive skinned, her black hair in tight shrouded curls clinging to her head. She was of medium stature and had brilliant gray eyes. She wore a suit, not unlike the one Laura often wore, except hers was a deep maroon. The man that flanked her left side was olive skinned as well, although a little bit darker than his female counterpart. He had black hair that was combed and gelled to perfection. He wore a business suit as well but he also had a curiously large ring upon his hand. The man flanking to the right was a pale skinned man, his hair so lightly blond that it almost matched the clouds above them. He had light blue eyes and wore a robe of some sort. It was obviously government issued and had a seal upon the collar.

The woman stopped a short distance between them and in turn the men with her also stopped.

" We do not look armed" the woman said in an affected accent, her eyes following theirs, as their eyes had been scanning them for weapons " But we have security hidden all around us, if anyone decides they wish to become violent" she gave them all a steady look, showing she did not wish it to come to that.

"We understand that ma'm" Lee spoke up "But we aren't here to cause a fight. Hell that's what we've been doing for the past few years. We are here to find a home, just like the President said."

The men and woman assembled look appraisingly at Laura, checking over the leader.

"This is your leader?" The woman asked in a voice that held just the slightest disbelief.

" Hell yeah she's our leader" Kara said angrily, taking offense to the woman's tone.

Laura felt a surge of pride within her gut, at the loyalty Kara was showing.

The woman from the thirteenth tribe looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense." She said earnestly, shaking her head full of dark curls mentally chastising herself. "I just meant…"

The olive skinned man next to her gently laid his hand upon her shoulder and looked to them.

" I am President Gerard Sands and this is my wife Rosalina." He said nodding to the woman "We meant no disrespect to you."

Kara left of a scoff of disdain which caused Bill to shoot her a look of warning. Meanwhile the pale man had moved much closer to them and held out his hand.

The pale man smiled at them. "I am Ben King, leader of the U.C."

They all gave him confused glances and he lost his smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't know if you would know what that was but I had assumed the other colonies had….never mind" he said his smile returning. "I'm leader of the United Colony here on Earth."

"United Colony?" Laura asked in a questioning voice.

"Ahh yes " Ben answered " The United Colony is an organization that's main purpose is to keep all of the individual colonial groups at peace. We are proud to have never had a war. We find the best thing is to remind people we are all one colony, one "United Colony" as it were." He said as he flashed a smile.

Laura gave him a politician's smile and said "I'm Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

Gerard smiled warmly and extended his hand. " I've heard many things about the great leader of the remaining tribes. " He said as he shook her hand. Bill was tense at Laura shook each of the leaders hands, his eyes searching them for any false motives. He sighed with relief as she returned to his side. Rosalina cocked her head slightly at Bill, and he realized he was expected to introduce himself next.

"Admiral William Adama Commander of the Fleet." He said in a strong voice. He shook hands with each of the leaders, each time feeling as if he were being appraised like a piece of cattle.

The others quickly introduced themselves. '_Now' _Laura thought_ 'it is time to get down to business.'_


	2. Chapter 2

Laura quickly stepped in front of Bill '_what was with that man and always wanting to stand in front of her?'_ she thought. "Earlier you mentioned while you were in your…."she looked inquisitively at the machine, a question in her eyes.

"Our helicopter" Rosalina said with a small smile.

Laura pressed forward, unperturbed "Yes while in your helicopter, you said you knew who we were. How?" she asked in a perfect politician's voice, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"Well when we left the colonies all those years ago, we knew that one day our brothers and sisters from the original twelve may someday come looking for us. So we have kept a watchful eye on the activities throughout the universe. We used our satellites and technology to keep our world safe. We did not however want to compete with fate or change the destiny of the people of the colonies. While we did find out about the war between the cylon and human nations, but alas we were much too far away to change anything nor would we change history. As some may say "the universe has its reasons". We are gravely sorry for your losses." Gerard finished solemnly.

Laura accepted their condolences and then began to speak about terms of settling. The conditions of the settlement were extremely simple- as long as the people agreed to abide by the rules and laws of Earth's government- a model of colonial societies – they would be allowed to live upon earth and settle freely. There was no type of protocol for this type of exchange but the leaders of both tribes were reasonable. Bill marveled at the easy way that Laura was able to negotiate terms for settlement and easily steer through them from coming up with a plan to allow all the people to settle within a few months' time, to speaking about the cylons (apparently the 13th tribe had co-existed with certain cylons for thousands of years, they were shocked to learn), to foreseeing any hostilities between the peoples, to the question of leadership. It was decided that Lee would be in charge of making sure each group was trained in the colonial laws(they were the same as original colonial laws with a few minor tweaks), Ben would be in charge of diffusing any foreseeable tension thoughout the tribes and making integration as smooth as possible. Laura and Bill were allowed to remain as leaders of their people for an extended period of time until the elections were held and they would either merge as one group of leaders or choose one leader. The talks took the entire day and most of the evening. When they once again began to board their raptors to head back to the fleet, Rosalina pulled Bill aside. "A word Admiral?" Rosalina asked. Bill turned from the raptor and looked back. Rosalina was standing off to the side, gesturing for him to come to her. Bill shot a look at Laura who gave him a perplexed look and then a shrug. He held up one finger to Lee signaling his momentary absence and turned to Rosalina. "Admiral sir….I must inquire…" Bill waited patiently for her to continue " Is there a reason…" She looked at Bill, seemingly searching for the right words. "Ma'm?" Bill asked in a confused voice. "Well, I am not sure how to ask this but…Is your president dying of cancer?" Bill grew rigid within an instant. He would not let these people demean her presidency because of a physical weakness. They must not see her as weak. "Yes."Bill answered quickly, gruffly " But she is still a strong and capable leader. She-" Rosalina held up her hands her eyes slightly wide. "No! I was not suggesting that!" Rosalina said, comprehension dawning upon her, realizing Bill must think she was out to undermine her. "I am wondering…Why would you let your president suffer with a completely curable disease?"

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As Bill rode in the raptor next to a sleeping Laura(she had been so excited, so joyous all day but her body had not been able to keep up with the pressures) he thought about what Rosalina had said "a completely curable disease". Bill's eyes had instantly pooled with tears, thought of hope returning, the thought of finally being able to live a lifetime with Laura become a remote possibility. He had wanted to rush into the raptor and tell her, but she was semi-conscious, and besides…when Bill told her he wanted to tell her alone. He wanted to be able to kiss her, to cry with her, to revel with her in the new life they could lead together. His insides were squirming(an usual feeling for an admiral-war caused those sensations to dull) as he thought about it.

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As they arrived on Galactica, reporters were surrounding them, as well as the people, frantic for the news. As Bill looked at Laura, they nodded towards each other and united hands. They wanted to share this moment of their hard fought struggle together. Bill cleared his throat " Madame President" he said, his voice ringing out clear and strong "Would you like to address the fleet?" Laura looked at him tearfully, and shook her head up and down. Bill dipped his head, indicating she should proceed. Laura cleared her throat, as Bill had done a moment before, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she began. "Men and Women of the Fleet this is your President speaking. After the arduous journey of the last few years I am pleased to announce we have made it to earth, our new home. We-" she paused as the fleet erupted. They were tears, laughter, hugging, kissing, all in a joyous revelry ringing throughout the crowd. After five minutes, the crowd died down a little and Laura began to speak again "As the Admiral and I, along with our team, descended upon on this new home ,we were met by the thirteenth tribe. " The room hushed and there was little to here except a few quiet whispers fading in and out of the crowd. Laura held up her hand "The thirteenth tribe has been extremely gracious and hospitable in our first dealings with them. We will be informing groups as they go down as to the culture and society that has been formed upon earth. We have found it to be quite similar to our own civilization. Lt Adama will be going over the finer points of the similarities and differences as we prepare to move down. If all goes smoothly, everyone should be moved to the surface within two months. We shall take non-essential personnel first and move our way up the chain of command. They have a government in place but you will be governed by this government until the upcoming elections in seven months. You will be informed of all essential information as you move closer to settling. Thank you. " The crowd was silent for a moment, and then there was an outburst of questions, of cheers for the leaders, of displays of affection for the men and women who had brought them to this occasion. Laura and Bill waded through the crowd and made their way to the CIC where the people had already heard the news over the wireless. Saul pulled Bill into a fierce hug the entire CIC had saluted their leaders. After taking care of the essentials, Bill and Laura made their way back to their quarters. On the way they were cheered and saluted many more times and when they finally landed upon Bill's couch they were exhausted. Laura laid her head upon Bill's chest, her feet tucked under her legs as Bill sat upright, seemingly inable to relax. "What is it?"

"Hmm?" Bill had asked, feigning ignorance.

Laura pulled her head back and shot him a glare. "William Adama. Do not pretend you do not have the faintest idea of what I am talking about. You've been holding something back since you talked to that woman earlier today. Now what is it?"

Bill stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. He knew she had a right to know, but he didn't want to get her hopes up-for fear they might be dashed. "Laura-"he began but then seemed to change his mind and shook his head.

Laura let out an exasperated sigh. "What Bill? Did she ask you to frak her into next Tuesday or something?" Bill had chocked on the water he had been sipping, but Laura plowed through with her next sentence, pretending she hadn't noticed. "Because honestly I don't know what else would have you acting so strangely or acting like you can't tell me. So just tell me." She huffed.

Bill wiped the water off of his face and stared at her again. "Well first off you'll be glad to know she did not ask me to frak her into next Tuesday" he began with a smirk.

"Oh it was Friday then?" Laura interrupted with a laugh.

Bill sighed. " No it was Saturday actually." Laura let out a mock cry of indignation and collapsed in a fit of giggles, Unfortunately the giggles led to a cough and her body began to rack with them. Bill instantly grew serious, placing a steading hand on her arm, another soothingly rubbing her back. This action eased her coughs and soon she was breathing normally again, taking slow calming breaths.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to ruin all the fun. Diloxin can really kick a person's ass."

Bill smiled sadly at her poor attempt at lightheartedness. He knew he had to tell her now. Had to tell her on the chance they might have a miracle on their hands. Bill didn't believe in the gods or miracles for that matter but something about Laura made him believe in miracles- at least where her fate was concerned.

"Laura that's what I wanted to talk to you about. That is what Rosalina wanted to talk to me about today. "

"My cancer?" Laura had asked with a look of confusion and suspicion. "Why do they think I am too weak to lead the people? Do they think-"

Bill held up his hand and shook his head. "No Laura. I would never let them think that." He took her hand in his "They say they have cure for you" he said with tear filled eyes.

Laura looked at him, stunned. She opened her mouth and found her words wouldn't come. Instead she looked at Bill and smiled. "Well then. It seems you may not have such an easy way out of marrying me. I told you you shouldn't have asked". Bill shook his head and smiled at her. She might have been playing off her emotions, guarding herself against the fear that it might not be true, but he could see right through her. But he didn't call her out on it. Instead her kissed her and held her close to him, letting her façade fall down until she eventually let go and they cried together.


End file.
